


astronomy in reverse

by venusbot



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Fluff, High School AU, Instagram DMs, M/M, Stargazing, and they need SLEEP, anyway, basically an excuse for me to cry over sunwoo, they're both losers, turn on creator's style!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-19 10:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17599766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venusbot/pseuds/venusbot
Summary: kimsuns:hey, do you want to come to the park?kimsuns:we could look at the starskimsuns:only if you want to hahaOh, damn Kim Sunwoo and his dimples and his hahas and his way of making Haknyeon want to give him the world.





	astronomy in reverse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venyus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venyus/gifts).



> first and foremost **HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOL!!** rhe secret is finally Out i hope u like this little thing i wrote for u n sunhak mwah havr the bestest day ever babe<3
> 
> second, here's a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/uusnp8maix93he2rpqfnwjqa9/playlist/1PjxXyUd3uboGhPu9tfsp1?si=7wf0XybcQ4efA9AWW5ulhQ) u can listen to while reading!! and please make sure that your **creator's style** is on, because you won't be able to fully enjoy the fic without it D: 
> 
> title from "venus" by sleeping at last

The sky was clear, and Haknyeon was wide awake.

1:03 am and he still couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in his bed until all his thoughts had been thought and all his problems had been problemed even further - his eyes just refused to close. His mind was racing, touching one corner of the room and then another, not even giving him enough time to properly understand its path. It jumped from one idea to the next like butterflies flitting across toadstools, keeping him on edge constantly; which was strange, since usually he slept like a frog. (Did frogs sleep well? Did frogs even _sleep_? Oh my god, all frogs are bots created by the government to keep us under proper surveillance.)

1:04 am, and he was about to do something he might regret for the rest of his life.

But hey, risks were what made life worth living, right? Even if they involved cute boys and possible mortification.

If Haknyeon was Pluto, then Sunwoo was Neptune - orbits forever crossing each other, but never at the same time. They talked, sure, and maybe they’d pass for society’s description of friends, but Haknyeon wasn’t satisfied with just that. Just like Pluto, he was always in awe of the bigger and brighter planet; always trying to get as close as he could.

Bringing his phone close to his nose, Haknyeon squinted at the screen. It showed his DMs with Instagram user kimsuns, which was mainly full of story replies and the occasional cat picture. (Apparently, Sunwoo sent pictures and videos of cats to everyone he knew, and Haknyeon wasn’t about to complain.)

Breathing in and not giving it another thought, he typed out the word “hi” and hit send, in what might have been his stupidest, _most impulsive_ , moment of all time. He groaned, dropping his phone on his face and yelping when it hit his nose harder than expected.

What he _definitely_ hadn’t expected, however, was the Instagram notification sound to tell him that he had a new message from a kimsuns.

Immediately sitting bolt upright in bed, Haknyeon clicked on the message, heart threatening to jump out of his ribcage. It was a simple response, but not one that you’d typically receive at ass o’clock.

 

**hakknyeon:** hi  
  
**kimsuns:** hi!!  
  
**hakknyeon:** omg why are you awake  
  
**kimsuns:** i could literally ask you the same thing  
  
**hakknyeon:** fair enough  


A beat of a minute, where Haknyeon debated whether to continue the conversation or wait for the other to respond. His questions were quelled when he saw the typing bubble pop up next to Sunwoo’s profile picture. (Which was of him and a cat. Which was adorable, totally objectively speaking. So adorable.)

**kimsuns:** so why ARE you awake?  


So many things he could say, so many words that could help him. My thoughts have been keeping me awake and those thoughts are mainly you and do you maybe want to-

**hakknyeon:** oh you know haha couldn't sleep  


Sometimes Haknyeon really hated himself. _Haha?_

**kimsuns:** right  
  
**kimsuns:** i've been studying :/  


Wait. Was Sunwoo… attempting to _continue_ the conversation? If Haknyeon didn’t know any better, he’d think that the other actually wanted to talk to him.

**hakknyeon:** oh productive king! good luck with the studying, i’m sure you’ll do amazing :)   
  
**kimsuns:** ahh thank you, you’re too sweet  
  
**kimsuns:** so what have you been up to?  


Okay. So he definitely wanted to talk to him. And Haknyeon didn’t know why, but he was definitely not complaining.

\---

Before he knew it, it was 3:00 am and they’d been talking for _two hours_.

Haknyeon turned over in his bed, a blush dusting his cheeks. Two hours of talking to someone who he thought hardly knew him. _At 3:00 am_. (And he hadn’t even ghosted him in order to rant on his private account! Progress, he called it.)

He found out that not only was Sunwoo a cat person, he loved birds too. Most animals, really, except dogs. But he didn’t keep any pets, because he was too irresponsible and busy for one. He used to have goldfish but they died in a few weeks; he loved soccer but barely got the time for it anymore; he wrote songs in his free time but was too shy to ever show them to anyone; he liked reading _and what about you, haknyeon?_

Never had he felt so relaxed, so at home with someone within such a short time of them talking. Their conversation flowed with ease and never stilted - they managed to find common ground on each and every thing. Haknyeon never wanted to stop talking to him. Stuffing his face into his pillow, he let out a muffled scream at how easily his small fascination had bloomed into a full on crush in nothing more than one night. When did he get so fucking _cheesy?_

Sighing, he grabbed hold of his phone again, rereading the last few texts as he waited for Sunwoo to send the message he was typing. (Somehow, they’d ended up talking about fish. Glub glub, anyone?)

 

**kimsuns:** hey, do you wanna come to the park?  


Haknyeon froze. _WHAT._ His fingers started typing out the words _"please say sike"_ before he noticed that the other was still typing.

**kimsuns:** we could look at the stars  


Well, fuck.

**kimsuns:** only if you want though haha  


Damn Kim Sunwoo and his dimples and his hahas and his way of making Haknyeon want to give him the world.

**hakknyeon:** of course!!  


\---

3:21 am and it was not only _dark,_ it was _cold as fuck._

He’d worn two sweaters and a jacket to top it off, but he was still freezing his ass off. The park wasn’t too far from his house, only about five minutes walking distance, but even a minute felt like an hour in weather like this. But Haknyeon didn’t complain one bit, mind too focused on _what the fuck he was meeting Kim fucking Sunwoo at 3:30 am in a children’s park what the FUCK._

The message he’d sent Sunwoo had been completely borne out of impulse and no planning or intention whatsoever. Haknyeon had expected to make a fool of himself when the younger would read the message, which _should_ have been in the morning because god knows he needed the rest, but it ended up working out in an entirely different - and definitely more pleasant - way.

Trying not to think too much about it, and instead focusing on reaching the park without getting hypothermia, Haknyeon ducked his head further into his coat and sped up his walking. As soon as he reached, Haknyeon immediately spotted Sunwoo’s fluffy multi coloured cap that he always wore to school, swinging by himself on a rickety swing set. (He had to resist the urge to go and pull on it.) Confused as to how he’d made it there so quick, but dismissing the thought, Haknyeon went up to him.

“Hi,”

Yeah, he really had an extensive vocabulary.

Fortunately for him, Sunwoo wasn’t much better. Looking up from where he was staring at the grass, the younger gave him a grin bright enough to blind the sun. “Hi!”

Without giving Haknyeon a chance to get a word in edgewise, Sunwoo quickly patted the swing next to him, ushering the other to sit with the words, “Look at the sky!”

There was something fascinating about the cityscape at 3:34 am. Most of the house lights were off, only streetlights and cars remaining. The real sightshow was in the sky - tiny pinpricks covering the entire inky black canvas, more than enough to be countable but too little to satisfy any man’s curiosity. At that moment, Haknyeon wished that he’d paid more attention in 8th grade astronomy class - the only constellation he could recognise was the big bear. (Which, honestly, was hardly even a bear.)

Turning around to ask Sunwoo if he knew any other constellations, his words died in his throat. The other boy looked so genuinely interested in the scene spread out around him that he’d grown his own stars in his eyes; burning with a desire to capture the whole wide world with his pupils. He had stars on his face too - a slight smattering of freckles that wrinkled up when he scrunched his nose in concentration, and across his hands where they looked delicate and kissable and how was Haknyeon supposed to concentrate on the universe when a galaxy was sitting right beside him?

Mouth dry but mind still searching for something to say, he blurted out, “Constellations.. pretty.”

Jesus Christ, Haknyeon.

Laugh. “Constellations super pretty,” Sunwoo agreed.

A moment of silence, but Sunwoo quickly filled it up with his excited questions. “Do you have a favourite constellation?”

Haknyeon rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish. “Uh, I only really know just Ursa Major, so…”

Sunwoo laughed again, delighted by almost everything. That was what lack of sleep did to you, Haknyeon supposed. “That’s okay! I’ll teach you some of my favourites,”

Pointing to some vague pinpricks of light that seemed incomprehensible to Haknyeon, but probably formed a different image for Sunwoo, the younger boy started talking. “See those stars right there? Those three strung together in a line. That’s Orion’s belt, and the rest is Orion himself!”

Haknyeon nodded absent-mindedly, some metaphor about humans and interpretations of stars sitting on the tip of his tongue. He looked up at Sunwoo, whose eyes were shining bright in excitement. The other didn’t pause to see if Haknyeon was following; he just continued his explanations.

“And right above that, there’s Scorpio! That’s the scorpion that bit Orion and killed him, oops. Oh, and there’s a constellation for each zodiac sign! You’re a Pisces, right? I feel like you’re a Pisces. Let me find it…”

Sunwoo’s enthusiasm was contagious, because Haknyeon had a smile on his face too. (Which had nothing to do with how cute Sunwoo looked while concentrating. Nope. Nothing at all.) He still didn’t trust himself to say anything without stumbling over his words and sounding like a complete idiot, so he settled for nodding in what he thought were the appropriate moments. Sunwoo took him on a journey throughout the sky, and Haknyeon found an adventure right in front of him.

\---

“...so yeah! Those are the main constellations I know of,”

He finished his spiel with a huge grin, which quickly broke into a look of worry. “Wait, I didn’t bore you, right?”

Haknyeon was quick to quell his worries. “No, what the heck! That was some of the most interesting stuff I’ve heard in ages, so thank you, Sunwoo,”

This time it was the younger’s chance to look sheepish. “If you say so,” he said. “And anytime! I know this was a bit of a weird request but I’ve always wanted to talk to you, and the stars looked extra pretty tonight.”

Hold on. He what?

By the time Sunwoo was finished with his sentence, Haknyeon was almost brick red. He thanked the night for shielding him from further embarrassment as he tried to work out what to say in response to something like - well, to something like _that_.

“I- Oh, you- Th- Nice,”

JESUS CHRIST, HAKNYEON.

Sunwoo laughed. Again. “You’re so cute.”

Oh, dear.

If Haknyeon wasn’t already a traffic light by then, that comment definitely didn’t help it for the better. He wasn’t used to this side of Sunwoo, wasn’t used to _any_ side of Sunwoo. For all he knew, the other could just be generally nice to everyone - but something told him that this was different. (Maybe it was his wishful thinking speaking, maybe it wasn’t.)

So, as he tended to do when faced with a problem he couldn’t solve immediately, Haknyeon buried himself deeper in his turtleneck. He had no dignity left to regain, anyway.

“Mfhhm mmf hhhm,”

Sunwoo looked on, amused. “Mffm mmmh hm to you too, loser!”

Haknyeon’s eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked like he was about to say something but refrained. Luckily for him, Sunwoo was never one for awkward silences.

“Okay, so what do you know about asteroids?”

The older boy frowned, heart still racing and glad for the subject change. He pushed the collar of his turtleneck away from his mouth, freeing his lips so he could finally speak in something other than mumbles. “They’re flying space rocks and sometimes they crash?”

There it was again, the fire in his eyes. God, Haknyeon would kill a million men for that light. (But for now, he was content to just sit there.) “Yeah, pretty much! Did you know there’s this weird bowling ball asteroid that scientists are obsessed with? It’s called Ultima Thule, and…”

You didn’t hear this from Haknyeon, but Sunwoo looked kind of cute when he was concentrating on something. His brows were all furrowed and his words came out of his mouth unfiltered, and Haknyeon felt like he was seeing an otherwise hidden side of the other boy. He didn’t know what exactly it was, but he liked it. (He liked him.) And maybe it was something about the fact that they were out in the open, surrounded by nothing but ghosts and balls of gas, but Haknyeon was feeling bold.

Waiting for Sunwoo to finish what he was saying, Haknyeon stared up at the sky. He was searching for something, for some sort of sign from the universe telling him that what he was going to do was the right option. But time was a luxury he couldn’t wait for.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, Sunwoo sighed, and said, “Hey, Haknyeon?”

The boy in question hummed in response.

“I think-” Sunwoo hesitated. “I think I like you.”

A few moments of silence, with nothing but the burning of stars a billion miles away to keep them company. Crickets.

Sunwoo was staring at the ground, and Haknyeon was frozen.

His brain couldn’t even process what just happened; was he really out in a _fucking park_ , at _3:54 am_ , with _Kim fucking Sunwoo_ , who happened to have _a fucking crush_ on him? Was this real life or just a _fantasy_? (If it wasn’t obvious already, Haknyeon cursed a lot when he was stressed.)

“Uh, thank you?”

Not for the first time that night, Haknyeon wanted to die.

Before he could backtrack and say something else - like “no way, me too!” - Sunwoo started laughing. That definitely did _not_ help Haknyeon’s already burning cheeks, and he just ended up stuttering over his words even further.

“I-”

Before Sunwoo could even start what he was going to say, Haknyeon blurted out, “I like you. Too.”

The smile that spread across Sunwoo’s face could rival even the brightest of suns.

\---

Despite the fact that the previous night had been one of the most embarrassing experiences of his life, Haknyeon wouldn’t have exchanged it for the world. However, he would admit that staying up til 4:32 am at a park in the middle of winter on a _weekday_ was definitely not one of his smartest ideas.

He’d returned home at 4:49 am, quietly latching the door behind him and sneaking up to his room, hoping that his heartbeat wasn’t too loud. Only when he was finally settled into bed did Haknyeon allow himself to properly think about what happened - all the adrenaline from the night melting away into his blankets, his hands and cheeks and lips still tingling from Sunwoo’s warmth.

Haknyeon closed his eyes, memories of constellations and moonlit skin softly singing him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> hehehe thank u for reading :p come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/sapphicgin) or [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/sao206462)!!


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